Stale candy and stockings
by Caramel Revenge
Summary: This is a fic about Team Gai and the holidays! Holiday 3: Christmas.“Well, what are you getting Neji?” “Oh,uh, well, what are you getting him, youthful flower?” A little Nejiten
1. Halloween, part 1

I do not own Naruto or any Naruto characters

Hey people! I'm having some writers' block and I'm lucky to have written this in a looney state.

I do not own Naruto or any Naruto characters.

Tenten ran to her training ground, her head abuzz with excitement. Today was Halloween!

As she arrived she could see Lee was jumping up and down and just overall being excited.

Lee spotted her and called out enthusiastically, "Tenten! Gai said we could go trick or treating as a group and then have a party at his house with cake and bobbing for apples and costume awards and jack-o-lanterns and creepy music!"

"I know!!" she squealed, "I can't wait! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays!!"

"Humph," they heard from the temporarily forgotten Hyuuga prodigy.

Lee looked concerned. Tenten looked annoyed.

"You can't tell me you don't like Halloween, Neji."

Neji frowned. "Yes I can."

Lee looked like he was on the verge of manly tears. "But Neji, what is there not to like? Halloween is a wonderful time of year when children dress up as spooky things and demand candy from strangers!"

Neji just rolled his eyes and continued frowning.

Lee gasped suddenly.

"Neji, are you afraid of ghosts?"

"That's ridiculous, Lee."

"Witches?"

"No!"

"What about monsters?"

"Lee! I'm not afraid of Halloween! None of those things exist!"

"Are you sure? Halloween is awfully scary…." Tenten teased in a singsong voice.

Neji scowled at his teammates' childish behavior and turned towards the training grounds.

"We're supposed to train today."

"But Neji, Gai-sensei said we could have the day off to plan our costumes!" Lee told him.

"Yeah, I'm being a ghost!" Tenten exclaimed.

"Training is more important than stupid costumes."

"I'm going to be a spider!!" Lee shouted enthusiastically, apparently ignoring Neji's remark.

Neji twitched.

"Come on, you know you're going to have fun!" Tenten said, "At the very least you're going to enjoy the candy!"

"I don't like candy." Neji said defiantly.

Lee looked like the floor had been pulled out from under him. Someone not liking candy was just completely unbelievable, like someone insisting they enjoyed getting holes drilled in their skull.

Tenten had look on her face that said, Yeah, right, and I suppose the sky isn't blue.

"You can't not like candy! Only monsters and Sound-nin don't like candy!" Lee screamed, as if Neji's soul depended on him liking candy.

Neji looked creeped out and backed away a couple of feet. So did Tenten.

"Uh, Lee…" Tenten said carefully, "…..It's not exactly the end of the world if someone doesn't like candy."

"Oh."

"Yeah…….. So anyway Neji, what are you going to be for Halloween?"

Neji looked at her as if she were stupid. Hadn't he already practically spelled it out for them?

"I just said costumes were stupid. I do not do stupid things. Therefore I am not dressing up in a costume," he said slowly, as if Tenten and Lee wouldn't understand it otherwise.

Tenten looked ticked off at him for using his 'I think you're really stupid so I'm going to explain this slowly' tone.

"Is that legal?" Lee wanted to know.

"Of course it's legal. It's never been mandatory to dress up in costumes on Halloween," Neji replied in a condescending tone.

"Well, it is for you, buster."

Neji turned in slight confusion toward the angry-eyed Tenten.

"You're wearing a costume whether you like it or not! Lee, grab him!"

Neji didn't react in time and was swiftly tackled by Lee while Tenten pulled a large orange thing out of her bag.

"Lee, get off me! What is that?"

Tenten grinned evilly. "I was saving this for Lee in case he couldn't decide, but it would be a perfect fit for you!"

"You can't do that! Get away from me!"

After a struggle and pleas to be youthful and just wear the costume, Neji was disheveled and bearing a strong resemblance to a pumpkin.

"Now isn't that better?" Tenten said sweetly while Neji scowled at her, "Now you're ready for Halloween! Lee, make sure he doesn't take it off while I get into my costume."

"Okay!"

"You guys are going to pay for this……."

Tenten slipped a white sheet over her head and then put talcum powder in her hair.

Using face paint, she made her face white with grey around the eyes for an overall spooky look.

"How do I look?" she said, posing.

"Very youthfully spooky!" Lee shouted, and he zipped over to his bag to get out his costume.

Apparently Lee either knew someone who was good at sewing, or he was good at it himself. The former was more likely. His costume was fuzzy and black and it had four extra poseable limbs sticking out of it.

He also had ridiculous looking antennae. He smeared black face paint all over his face to finish.

"Is it not a youthful costume?"

Tenten laughed and gave him a thumbs-up. Neji rolled his eyes. Tenten shoved him.

"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Neji."

Just then Gai showed up, and seeing them all wearing costumes- even Neji- tears came to his eyes.

"Oh, how youthful!"Gai sobbed, "You all have such beautiful costumes! Though Neji, yours is a little crooked, you might want to straighten it."

Neji twitched and ground his teeth while Lee and Tenten shared a knowing look.

Gai continued on, oblivious to Neji's annoyment.

"Let's go to my house and make jack-o-lanterns for the party!"

Lee whooped with excitement and the whole group- Neji being dragged along- went to begin their ghoulish festivities.

Yay! I decided this would not be a oneshot, so expect a second chapter soon! Reviews are greatly appreciated! Also, what do you think of me making this a holiday series and doing stories about Easter, Christmas, Valentine's etc.?


	2. Halloween, part 2

By now it was dark enough to trick or treat

By now it was dark enough to trick or treat. They had already had fun playing Halloween games, such as smashing a witch piñata (which Tenten claimed looked like Sakura but Lee said was the complete opposite of his beautiful Sakura), playing freeze dance to creepy music, attempting to scare each other with rubber spiders (which worked amazingly well on Neji), getting their costume awards (Lee got 'Most Youthful'), carving jack-o-lanterns and hunting for Halloween themed eggs.

Neji could've sworn one did not go hunting for eggs on Halloween, but he wasn't certain, so he kept his mouth shut.

Gai handed out pumpkin shaped baskets to each of them. Now was the time to gather as much candy as you could and then gorge yourself when you got home.

They set off and Neji had forgotten he did not want to go trick or treating, so he was having fun too as they ran up to the first house.

"Trick or treat!" they chimed together, with Lee much louder than the other two and jumping up and down in anticipation.

The middle-aged lady who stood at the door smiled and plunked a tootsie roll in each of their baskets.

Lee jumped up and down and shouted his thanks while Tenten politely said thank you. Neji looked down at his tootsie roll disdainfully.

Tenten elbowed him and he mumbled a thank you.

As they moved on towards the next house, Tenten scolded Neji on his lack of manners while Lee grinned and looked excitedly towards the next house, which had spectacular decorations.

Neji seemed rather bored with this house until he noticed the giant decoration they were about to walk under…….

A GIANT SPIDER!!

Neji jumped backwards, startling his teammates and practically falling over. What kind of sick, twisted freak would put something like that in their yard?!

"Uh, Neji…. Are you okay?"

"Is he having a cardiac arrest?!"

"He'd be lying on the ground if he were having a cardiac arrest, Lee."

"Wow Tenten! You should've been a nurse or a doctor!"

"Neji, seriously, you look like you've seen a ghost!"

Neji regained his composure.

"I….. just don't want to go to this house. Trick or treating is stupid."

"Are you scared of the witch statue?" Lee wanted to know, pointing at the life size witch statue on the porch. It was an ugly statue, but not something that most people would truly fear.

"Don't be ridiculous." Neji seemed annoyed now.

"But why don't you want to go to this house? You were having fun a few minutes ago." Tenten said, cocking an eyebrow.

"I was not having fun! I'm going home now!"

"Don't go home! Look, we can skip the house if you're that upset about it."

"I'm not upset!"

"Neji, your face is all red and you're shouting! It's kind of obvious!"

Neji crossed his arms and didn't reply.

Realization hit Tenten as she remembered Neji's reaction to Lee throwing a rubber spider in his face. He had seemed to freak out for a minute there.

"It's the spider, isn't it?" she said a little more softly.

Neji refused to answer. He looked down at the ground, apparently somewhat ashamed of his phobia.

Tenten looked down the street. Apparently spider decorations were popular this year, as many of the other houses had large spiders decorating their porches. None of the spiders were nearly as big as this one, but they were still big.

Tenten sighed.

"You know what? We can go back to Gai's house and bob for apples and eat cake."

Lee started to protest, but Tenten sent him a meaningful look and continued.

"Don't worry, Lee. We can buy a bunch of candy tomorrow, since it will be on sale."

Lee had caught on, and besides, going back and bobbing for apples and eating cake appealed to him.

"Alright! Let's go!!"

And they all headed back to Gai's house.

Gai was surprised to see them back so soon, but Tenten told him what happened outside of Neji's hearing range.

The rest of the night proceeded like it had before trick or treating, but when Neji went home he had a new sense of trust in his teammates. They really did care, and they gave up trick or treating for his sake.

The warm feelings were gone the next morning when Lee and Tenten burst into his room and shook him awake to go candy shopping.


	3. Easter, part 1

Surprise! I'm alive! Sorry about not writing in so long.

I don't own Naruto, any of the Naruto characters, or the Easter bunny.

Neji had a terrible feeling as he got out of bed that morning.

Today something was supposed to happen, and he was pretty sure it was something he wasn't going to be too pleased with.

He went through his daily routine and came to the training grounds, where he was first, as usual.

Tenten came running up not too long after.

"Hey Neji!"

He nodded in response.

But before they could even decide what they were going to do for training, two large, oval, colorful objects came running up the hill, nearly colliding with them.

"Happy Easter!"

Neji looked dumbfounded while Tenten snapped at their unusually colorful sensei.

"You nearly ran me over! What's with those costumes anyway? You're not supposed to dress up as Easter eggs on Easter!"

Lee looked horrified.

"You're not?"

"No! Of course not."

Gai did not seem appalled by this at all.

"Well then, it's a good thing we brought enough Easter bunny costumes for everyone!"

Neji seemed to snap out of it.

"Wait a minute, it's Easter?"

All three of his teammates turned to stare at him. How could he possibly not know that? With all the decorations around?

"Um, yeah Neji, it is."

"How could you forget something as important as Easter?!"

Neji just shrugged. Easter wasn't big at the Hyuuga compound.

Gai just shook his head and made his announcement, waving the costumes in the breeze.

"Okay everyone! I had Easter bunny costumes made just for you! Here they are!"

Neji shuddered while Tenten smiled nervously at Gai.

"Gai-sensei, not everyone has to dress up as a bunny. Why don't you and Lee do that while Neji and I…. prepare the Easter egg hunt!"

Gai, of course, shook his head. He saw no reason Neji and Tenten couldn't wear Easter bunny costumes AND prepare the Easter egg hunt.

"Everyone has to wear the costumes, Tenten! They are most youthful!"

"W-well, maybe just you guys should wear the bunny costumes and I'll wear an Easter dress!"

Neji looked over at her sharply, shocked at her betrayal. Gai seemed to actually consider the idea, then gave Tenten a thumbs-up.

"Youthful idea, Tenten!"

Tenten grinned and turned to run back to her apartment before Gai changed his mind, shouting over her shoulder as she went, "Okay! I'm going to go get my Easter dress!"

Very quickly, Tenten disappeared from sight. Neji looked at Gai and Lee with the dawning realization he was outnumbered and they wanted him in a bunny costume.

He certainly couldn't outrun them, but maybe he could hide or seek sanctuary in the Hyuuga compound…..

Team 7 looked up from their training, speechless as they saw Neji go running past, followed by Gai and Lee waving a bunny costume around.

Okay, it's short for a first chapter, but this seemed good for the first part.


	4. Easter, part 2

And the horrors of Easter continue!

Tenten came running back up from her apartment. She was wearing her maryjanes so she had a little more careful where she stepped. As she reached the training grounds, she saw a trio of bunnies waiting for her. One of them had pale eyes and was leaning grumpily against a tree, muttering something about ridiculous costumes and how they always ruined his reputation.

Said bunny glared at Tenten as soon as he spotted her. The other two, however, started screaming that her dress was most youthful and she was a youthful flower.

Tenten grinned and scratched the back of her neck. "You really think it's that nice?"

She got a very grumpy "no" from the pale-eyed bunny, but the other two said yes, of course, didn't they say it was most youthful?

She turned to the grouchy bunny.

"C'mon Neji, it's not that bad. You look kind of cute, actually!"

Oh, if looks could kill!

Lee and Gai, the happy bunnies, grinned and nodded in agreement.

"We told you it was a most youthful costume!" Lee exclaimed, somehow not noticing Neji's death glares, which intensified.

"It is not a youthful costume!" Neji snapped. He was humiliated in front of team 7 just so Lee and Gai could get him into a bunny costume. He had every right to be angry.

Tenten just giggled. There was no way she could take him seriously in that costume.

"All right, my youthful pupils! The moment you have all been waiting for has arrived!"

Tenten and Lee actually looked excited. Neji continued to mope.

Gai grinned wider and continued, "I will go hide the eggs, and we will have an Easter egg hunt!"

Lee started to cheer. Tenten didn't cheer, but she certainly looked pleased with the idea of an Easter egg hunt. Neji growled something under his breath about not wanting to search for stupid eggs, but no one paid him any mind.

"And…………….." Gai said, drawing out the'd' farther than most people would've thought possible, " I have another surprise for you!"

"What is it?!" Tenten and Lee exclaimed at the same time, Lee drowning out Tenten for the most part.

"I have invited Team 8 to join us! Isn't that exciting, Neji? You'll get to hunt for eggs with your beloved cousin!"

"What?! Why?!" Neji was not a happy bunny.

"Because Kurenai liked the idea of having an Easter egg hunt too, and I thought to myself, 'Gai, why don't you invite them to our Easter egg hunt?' So I did! Besides Neji, the more the merrier!"

Neji ground his teeth. He used to like holidays, but now he hated anything involving the holidays because Gai always did something like this. He just didn't understand some people have too much dignity to be involved in silly holiday traditions.

"Wow! That's a great idea, Gai-sensei!!!" Lee was crying tears of joy at this point. They would get to share their youthfulness with Team 8!

"Awesome!" Tenten grinned. Team 8 was a nice group. Hinata was really sweet.

Gai seemed pleased with their responses.

"I have instructed them to wear their Easter clothes, so they will probably look just like us. They should be arriving any minute now!"

Neji glanced towards the road and groaned. "Well, speak of the-"

"Hi Hinata!" Tenten shouted.

Team 8 came running up the hill. As Neji expected, they were wearing suits and dresses. Not bunny costumes.

They all seemed to do a double take when they saw the bunnies.

Then Kiba started to snicker. He'd spotted Neji glowering by the tree, and the sight was rather funny.

Hinata bit her lip and tried not to giggle. She knew Neji had probably not donned the costume of his own free will.

Kurenai cleared her throat.

"Well, if we'd known you wanted us to wear costumes….."

Gai just shook his head and declared dramatically, "It's just fine, Kurenai! Tenten's not wearing a costume either!"

He stopped with a sudden realization. "But I do have some Easter egg costumes if you want to borrow them!"

Kurenai sweatdropped. "Oh, uh, that's okay Gai, we don't really need costumes," She quickly tried to shift his attention, "Why don't we hunt Easter eggs now?"

"Yes! You and I will hide the eggs, and our students will hunt them! Cover your eyes, youthful pupils!"

Neji snorted. Like he couldn't just watch them with his byakugan. But everyone complied.

Minutes later, everyone was told to go out and search. Neji smirked and turned on his byakugan. He would get the most eggs for sure…… He didn't just think that, did he?!

Kiba and Akamaru sniffed out the eggs while Shino searched for them with his bugs. Hinata did the same as Neji.

Apparently Team 8 had a serious advantage, because despite Team Gai's speed, Team 8 ended up with many more eggs.

"Hah! We just burned you guys!" Kiba laughed. Gai's jaw dropped. He had just been boasting a few minutes ago about how his team would find the most eggs.

"So?! It's not a competition, idiot!" Tenten shouted in Kiba's face. Lee was weeping at his defeat. Neji was just scowling at the ground.

"Can I get out of this stupid costume now?"

Gai sighed as Kurenai rounded up her students and made them say thank you for being invited.

"Bye Tenten!" Hinata shouted. "We kicked your butts!" Kiba shouted.

"Enjoy it, because it will not happen again!!" Lee screamed after them.

"Well, can I?" demanded an irritated Neji.

"Lee, it was just an Easter egg hunt for crying out loud!" Tenten yelled at Lee.

Gai just shook his head. Where had he gone wrong?

Yep, this is the end of the second Team Gai holiday. Next up: Probably Thanksgiving or Christmas.

An important note: This Easter I'm talking about is only the superficial version. Not the religious one, hence I didn't come up with a touching or warm ending.


	5. Christmas, part 1

* * *

Hi everyone this is Caramel again! I hope you enjoy it! Merry belated Christmas!

I do not own Naruto, any Naruto characters, or Santa Claus.

Lee could barely contain his excitement. Tomorrow was the most important day of the year….. Christmas! And naturally they had the day off, so he would have time to get presents for his teammates!

He had a pretty good idea what Tenten wanted. The naginata she had been eyeing at the weapons shop would be perfect!

Neji, however, was far more difficult. He knew Neji had all the kunai and socks he needed, so those were out of the question. He supposed he would wander around the marketplace after getting Tenten's present and see if there was something perfect for Neji.

Gai sensei might also be a little difficult, though he knew Gai would be pleased with whatever he got him. He would probably get Gai a youthful knick-knack or a training item.

And with that he went out the door to purchase the gifts.

* * *

Tenten, on the other side of town, woke up with alarm. She hadn't gotten any of her teammates presents yet! And tomorrow was Christmas day!

She got up, got dressed, did her hair, and ate a granola bar all in under ten minutes. Then she was out the door to desperately search for presents.

Lee was really easy to shop for so long as you got something colorful, and Gai loved getting '#1 teacher' mugs, so they would be easy. Neji, on the other hand, could be a problem.

He was always so difficult. It would have to be practical but not thoughtless. It would have to be something he didn't already have and actually wanted, which really made things hard.

She turned the corner of the weapons shop and ran *kersmack* into a green blur……..

* * *

Lee couldn't believe he had just run into to Tenten! And shortly after buying her present too! He hid the naginata behind his back.

"Hi Tenten! Imagine meeting you here!"

Tenten rubbed her forehead, having smacked it into Lee seconds before. "Yeah, Lee, I guess that is unusual….. Wait a minute. Don't tell me you're doing last-minute Christmas shopping too!"

Lee blinked. Was there something wrong with that? "Yes! But I will find the best Christmas presents ever, never fear Tenten!"

"Well, what are you getting Neji?" she asked, genuinely curious because sometimes Lee hit the nail on the head when it came to presents, and she still wasn't sure what she going to get Neji.

"Oh,uh, well, what are you getting him, youthful flower?" Lee said a little awkwardly, and Tenten's face fell as this meant not even Lee had any idea what to get the Hyuuga prodigy.

"We could look together," Tenten suggested, "that way we won't get him the same thing."

Lee made sure all his purchases were safely hidden by his shopping bag and then went off with Tenten.

* * *

Neji, meanwhile, got out of bed and brushed his teeth. And then his hair.

There was a polite knocking on his door and that could mean it was only one person.

"What do you want, Hinata?"

Hinata opened the door, saw Neji was fully dressed, and came in. She began doing her insecure finger thing.

"W-well, I w-was w-wondering if y-you w-wanted to h-help decorate th-the C-Christmas t-tree. Y-you didn't g-get t-to h-help with i-it l-last year a-and you s-seemed l-lonely then."

Neji sighed. Hinata seemed to think the fractures in their family could actually be repaired. He honestly didn't care to help with their stupid Christmas tree.

"No, Hinata, and I was not lonely last year." He explained in a very patient voice.

She swallowed. "Well, you seemed really lonely sitting by yourself in the corner at the Hyuuga Christmas party."

Neji frowned. The Hyuuga Christmas party was what made him dislike this time of year. Attendance was mandatory, and while the majority of branch family members had to serve at the party, he had nothing to do, which meant he sat there bored with people occasionally talking about him in a less than nice way.

One year a drunken elder had insisted he was sitting underneath mistletoe and tried to kiss him.

Another year his cousin Hiroshi dunked his head in the punch bowl. Neji was the only one who got in trouble (for contaminating the punch).

One year when he was much younger several Hyuuga ladies had decided to discuss him (the poor little orphan) right over his head. They even knew he was there because they kept looking down at him and clucking their tongues sympathetically.

A year after that the cook, his cousin Hmai-Li, decided to brighten his day by dressing him up as an elf and putting him inside the great big cake. When didn't pop out at the appointed time they figured out the icing had effectively glued the top shut and then spent fifteen minutes breaking him out.

Neji shuddered, and Hinata wondered if he was thinking about the punch bowl incident or the would-be smooching elder. Maybe bringing up the party had been a bad idea. He never seemed to enjoy himself.

"Um, w-well, you l-let me know i-if you ch-change your m-mind."

* * *

Gai had already bought all his presents and was setting up a Christmas party for his team. He had decided that a big party with all the other teams was not necessary this year seeing as Neji completely flipped last year.

It would be more like a family party, just the four of them.

That didn't mean there wouldn't be a piñata, however.

After he had strung reindeer lights everywhere, he laid out his Santa suit for this evening. Tonight was going to be very youthful indeed. Weren't his students going to be so surprised when they saw the party he had prepared for them?

He had probably better figure out a way to get them there without giving them the heads up. That would ruin the surprise.

* * *

Lee and Tenten had been everywhere. Tenten had managed to get Lee his present by telling him to "go check out those gourds over there, I heard Neji likes gourds."

While Lee had been effectively distracted she got him a whole bunch of silly putty. Lee had gotten Gai a sweater with a turtle on it.

Maybe Neji would like a sweater? Or maybe not.

Tenten chewed on a fingernail. Neji was not all that sentimental, except when the item came from a dead person close to him. He was pretty practical, but speaking practically he had everything he needed. He didn't particularly have a soft spot for sweets. Tenten felt like tearing her hair out. Why did he have to be so impossible to shop for?

Suddenly Lee was pulling on her arm and pointing at something.

It was porcelain and off-white. It had small sacks of herbs ready to be dipped in boiling water. It was a simple tea set. And it was perfect.

* * *

Well well, we'll see if this tea set really is perfect next chapter! Sorry about taking so long, after I finished Hidden Bruises I lost my focus.


End file.
